Actually, the moment where Lu Xun held Qian Wei hadn’t lasted very long, yet to Qian Wei it felt as though time had frozen, as though an entire century had passed. For some reason, being so close to Lu Xun, breathing in his scent, left her feeling momentarily unable to catch her breath.

Fortunately, before her face could flush any redder or she could feel herself suffocating completely, Lu Xun let her go. There was a fierce glint in his eyes, and his tone was anything but gentle. “Are you an idiot? You saw the ball coming and didn’t even think to dodge?”

“I… I…”

Qian Wei stammered, trying to explain, but Lu Xun cut her off.

“Forget it, it’s not your fault.” He shot her a warning glare. “Get out of the way, quickly.”

With that, he picked up the basketball and walked toward Zhao Peng. Though Qian Wei had thought his tone with her was fierce, compared to how he looked now, that earlier tone could practically be called gentle.

Lu Xun’s face was murderous, and yet it was still devastatingly handsome — he carried the aura of some ancient emperor who would slay gods and Buddhas alike that dared cross his path.

“Can’t win at basketball, so you resort to a sneak attack from behind?” Despite the towering rage on his face, Lu Xun’s voice was remarkably calm. “Is this the extent of what you men are capable of? Bullying girls, and even your sneak attacks are aimed at a girl instead of daring to throw at a guy.”

The twenty-eight-year-old Lu Xun always carried an overwhelming presence, one that left people unable to counter him even in a courtroom. And the nineteen-year-old Lu Xun now had eyes full of killing intent, his brow already carrying a faint air of authority that made people afraid to talk back.

Standing at the most neutral, objective distance, even Qian Wei had to admit — in this moment, Lu Xun really was rather handsome.

Just as Qian Wei’s thoughts were running wild, she saw Lu Xun point at her, his stance uncompromising.

“Don’t think you can bully a girl and get away with it. Remember this — you don’t get to bully her. Not her.”

For college guys, what mattered most was a sense of collective honor — as fellow students of University A, they absolutely wouldn’t stand for a schoolmate being bullied by outsiders. With Lu Xun taking the lead, the rest of the basketball team spoke up one after another.

“We will not allow you to bully our girl!”

Qian Chuan even flexed his arm. “Bully Qian Wei? Want a taste of my fist?”

In an instant, everyone stood united, forming a wall in front of Qian Wei. For the first time, Qian Wei got to enjoy the VVIP treatment of being the center of attention.

Zhao Peng’s group, intimidated by the basketball team’s presence, grew a bit timid, but for the sake of face, they kept up appearances, still looking rather provocative.

Qian Wei tugged at Lu Xun’s sleeve. “Forget it, forget it, it’s not worth it.” Lu Xun looked refined on the surface, but Qian Wei knew that once this guy lost his temper, he was probably worse than Zhao Peng and his gang. With both sides now at a standoff, Qian Wei didn’t want things to escalate and cause any real trouble.

Mo Zixin clearly understood the importance of the bigger picture too. She glanced at Lu Xun and said softly, “Lu Xun, don’t stoop to their level.” She cleverly gave him a way to step down gracefully. “Didn’t you say you’re meeting with Professor Zhang later to discuss your thesis? Don’t be late.”

But Lu Xun completely ignored Mo Zixin’s good intentions. He merely glanced back at Qian Wei. “What do you mean, forget it? If it weren’t for me, you’d be the one who got hit just now.” Having said that, he didn’t waste any more words — he tapped the ball in his hands and then threw it at Zhao Peng. The throw looked casual, but the ball landed with precision squarely on Zhao Peng’s left foot, not missing by an inch.

Lu Xun clearly had a lot of strength — the ball moved so fast that Qian Wei only managed to catch the arc of it bouncing off Zhao Peng at high speed. She looked up and, sure enough, saw Zhao Peng’s face contorted as he desperately tried to hold back the pain. Based on what Qian Wei knew of Lu Xun, he’d probably aimed straight for Zhao Peng’s toes — the nerves are just as sensitive there as in the fingers, and sometimes a heavy blow to the toes hurts worse than a punch. There was no such thing as “swallowing an insult” in Lu Xun’s dictionary.

Perhaps not expecting Lu Xun to be so brazen, Zhao Peng and the others seemed to choke on their own anger for a moment.

“Let’s go!” Even so, Zhao Peng still forced himself to save face, waving his hand grandly and ordering his lackeys to follow him out. His posture remained that of a “gang boss,” but Qian Wei couldn’t help feeling that his limping gait betrayed a stubbornness he’d never admit to…

Once Zhao Peng left, Lu Xun finally turned back. He glanced at Qian Wei, then at Mo Tao. Perhaps annoyed that he’d taken a hit meant for Qian Wei for no reason, Lu Xun wasn’t the least bit friendly toward Mo Tao.

“Your own girlfriend, and you don’t even think to protect her? You need someone else to do it for you?” His tone was provocative, his expression unpleasant. After speaking, he glanced at Mo Tao again, disdain plain in his eyes. He gave a cold snort and swept another glance at Qian Wei.

Mo Tao was clearly angered, and he shot back, “Don’t you try to drive a wedge between me and Qian Wei. No matter what you say, our feelings for each other are as solid as gold!”

Just then, a few of the basketball players up ahead called out to Lu Xun. He shot one more dark, venomous glance at Qian Wei and Mo Tao, then walked off without another word.

Mo Zixin bit her lip, and finally, taking her little towel, followed in the direction Lu Xun had gone.

Just like Qian Chuan, Lu Xun seemed to have also assumed Mo Tao was Qian Wei’s boyfriend. Mo Tao was still stunned by this pot dropped on him out of nowhere. He looked at Lu Xun’s retreating back, then at Qian Wei. “What’s with that guy? I wanted to block the ball too, okay? But I was just born with terrible athletic reflexes, what am I supposed to do about that? I’m desperate too! Does he think I didn’t want to be the hero saving the damsel?”

Qian Wei patted Mo Tao on the shoulder, comforting him. “He did get hit by the ball because of me, after all. Don’t take it to heart.”

But Mo Tao was still lost in his own righteous indignation. “So people like me, who are bad at sports and slow to react, don’t deserve girlfriends? I’m usually a model citizen who’s kind to everyone, so why does Lu Xun rub me the wrong way like this?” He declared firmly, “Anyway, he’d better not have the nerve to pursue Zixin, or I’ll be the first one to put on the brakes! This is just Lu Xun being jealous — he’s single himself, and he can’t stand seeing other people happily paired up! Look at how petty this man is!”

Qian Chuan, standing to the side, immediately seized the opportunity. “Brother Tao, so what do you think of me? Do I look decent to you?” He fawned shamelessly, wiggling his eyebrows. “No kidding, the moment I met you, I felt so close to you. How does that saying go — ‘meeting you feels like meeting an old friend.’ The first time I saw you, I felt like we were family.”

Qian Wei was speechless inside. This Qian Chuan and his flattering, sycophantic face — how shameless could a person get!

But the speaker meant nothing by it while the listener took it to heart — this exchange between Mo Tao and Qian Chuan reminded Qian Wei of something. She thought, no time to waste — given how awkward and prickly Lu Xun’s personality was, she was starting to doubt whether he’d ever confess to anyone in his entire life. It seemed she really did need to pay more attention to her future boss’s love life! Looks like she’d have to find a chance to have a proper talk with Lu Xun.

To her great surprise, just as she was scheming to find him, Lu Xun actually showed up at her door the very next evening.

When she got Lu Xun’s call, Qian Wei was in the middle of cranking out her paper for tomorrow’s Marxist Philosophy general education class, one hand gripping the mouse furiously copying and pasting, the other hand answering the phone.

“Qian Wei, come downstairs.” Lu Xun’s low, magnetic voice came through the other end of the line.

“What’s up?”

Remarkably, this time, Lu Xun’s voice lacked his usual air of confidence. He paused, then said, with a hint of embarrassed irritation, “Just come down first.”

How could she dare to keep her future boss waiting?

Qian Wei hurried down the stairs, and there was Lu Xun, standing right at the door of her dorm.

This was way too conspicuous! Without a word, Qian Wei grabbed Lu Xun and dragged him to the quiet tree-lined path on the left side of the girls’ dorm building.

“That thing you promised me before — does it still count?”

Qian Wei blinked. “Huh?”

“You said you’d help me pursue Mo Zixin.” After saying this, Lu Xun turned his head away, kicking a pebble on the path as if it meant nothing at all.

This sudden opening statement nearly sent Qian Wei into a fit of overjoyed delight; she almost felt like a mother moved to tears. Lu Xun, oh Lu Xun, I’ve been waiting and waiting for you to finally come around!

“Of course!!” Qian Wei was thrilled, Qian Wei was excited, Qian Wei nearly started jumping for joy. “You’ve finally said it! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that? If you yourself had no intention, no sense of urgency, no initiative, it wouldn’t matter how much I nagged you at your side. But now that you’ve realized your own feelings, this whole thing becomes much easier!”

Lu Xun clearly wasn’t pleased with this reaction. He glanced at her. “Why do you sound like some kind of matchmaker for hire? It’s not like you’re the one pursuing Mo Zixin, why are you so worked up?”

“I’m happy for you, that’s why!” Qian Wei patted her chest. “Don’t worry, leave this to me. I, Qian Wei, don’t act lightly, but once I do, I get results! With me on the case, there’s nothing you can’t handle!”

“You’re free this weekend, right?”

Lu Xun nodded.

“Alright, here’s the plan. This weekend, ask Mo Zixin out to the movies. I remember Liu Shiyun mentioning there’s a horror film in this week’s lineup. You two watch a horror movie together, and she’ll definitely get scared. When that happens, you can hold her hand in the dark to comfort her,” Qian Wei thought for a moment, then added, “Also, you’re not supposed to talk loudly in a movie theater, right? So when she’s scared, you’ll have the perfect excuse to lean close to her ear and comfort her in a low voice. A scene like that is intimate enough to make any girl’s heart race, and with a voice as nice as yours — wow, just imagining it, the whole thing feels so romantic.”

“You sure have a lot of experience with this.” While Qian Wei excitedly strategized for him, Lu Xun’s tone had turned rather sarcastic.

Qian Wei rolled her eyes in warning. “Lu Xun, do you actually want to pursue Mo Zixin or not? If you’re not sincere about this, I’m not wasting my time!” Now that the tables had finally turned, and the proud, face-conscious Lu Xun had to rely on her, Qian Wei felt a rare sense of triumph, like a serf finally freed to sing. “What exactly do you mean by that question, huh? A person should stay focused on the task at hand — right now, we’re working on how you’re going to pursue Mo Zixin, why are you getting distracted analyzing my track record?”

Lu Xun glanced at her. “Oh, I’m just confirming whether this method comes from your own personal experience, whether it’s been tested and proven reliable.”

“Why does it matter so much to you!” Qian Wei coughed. “My theoretical knowledge is solid, I don’t need practical experience. It’s just pursuing a girl, not developing a new drug that needs clinical trials before it can go to market. Besides, I’m a woman myself — don’t you think I’d know how other women think?”

Qian Wei had expected Lu Xun to be dissatisfied upon hearing that this idea wasn’t backed by proven experience, but to her surprise, it was the opposite. After hearing this, the frown that had been creasing his brow actually relaxed, his mood seemed to lift, and there was even a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

“Alright, then it’s settled. You ask her out to the movies this weekend.”

“No.” As it turned out, Lu Xun had a new problem. He paused. “If I ask her out alone like that, it’ll be too obvious.”

Qian Wei: ???

Lu Xun said seriously, “I want to get closer to her gradually, without being too obvious about pursuing her. What if I ask her directly and she refuses? Wouldn’t that be humiliating for me?”

Seriously?! You’re already trying to court her, and you still want to be sneaky about it and not too obvious?! Qian Wei felt like screaming inside. Lu Xun, oh Lu Xun, by the time you finally get around to pursuing someone in this dawdling, roundabout way, she’ll have run off with someone else in an equally low-key way!!! Can you even eat this pride of yours?! When Mo Zixin gets swept away by someone else, go ahead and cry while hugging your precious face!

But no matter how Qian Wei tried to persuade him, Lu Xun refused to budge, insisting on a less conspicuous approach…

“Fine, then let’s do this,” Qian Wei said helplessly. “I’ll sacrifice myself for the greater good. You go ahead with the plan and ask Mo Zixin to the movies this weekend, but tell her you’re inviting me along too. Come up with whatever excuse you like — say you happen to have three movie tickets, something like that — that way it’s not just you asking her out alone, which satisfies your not-too-obvious requirement. Once the movie starts, I’ll find an excuse to slip away, and then the two of you can be together without having to worry about me being a third wheel. What do you think of this plan?”

Lu Xun seemed to have been waiting for exactly this answer. He nodded, and a satisfied smile finally appeared on his hard-to-please face. “That works.”

Qian Wei rolled her eyes internally, thinking, this future boss of mine — you really are a piece of work.

“Then it’s settled!” With that final decision made, Qian Wei was about to head back to her dorm to continue slogging through her Marxist philosophy paper.

But Lu Xun stopped her. “Pursuing someone isn’t going to succeed in just one or two tries, right?”

“Of course not. You’d better mentally prepare yourself — when it comes to love, you need patience, nothing happens overnight!”

Lu Xun blinked, his lashes fluttering with the motion. He lowered his head. “So if this time doesn’t work out, you’ll help me again next time too, right?”

This was a perfect opportunity to show her loyalty, and Qian Wei wasn’t going to miss it. She patted Lu Xun on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, as long as you and Mo Zixin haven’t tied the knot, I’ll be on call anytime to help you strategize. If this doesn’t work, we’ll try again next time! Whatever you need, just reach out to me anytime!”

“But what if I want to reach you and you’re out on a date?”

Qian Wei wiggled her eyebrows. “Don’t you worry! No matter what time it is, you’ll always come first! Your business is my business! Even if I’m on a date, you’ll take priority!” She didn’t bother explaining the whole situation with Mo Tao — partly because she’d promised him she’d keep it secret, and partly because she figured there was no real need to. Besides, letting Lu Xun believe this, that she’d rank him above even a boyfriend, wasn’t such a bad thing either — after all, what boss wouldn’t be moved by that? With Qian Wei being this devoted, how could Lu Xun ever have the nerve not to give her a raise?

While giving Lu Xun advice on pursuing Mo Zixin, Qian Wei made sure not to let anything go to waste — she systematically passed the same playbook along to Mo Tao. Women, after all — from eighteen to twenty-eight, there were certain things they liked in common; that girlish heart was universal too. Since it was all about pursuing a girl anyway, whatever tactics worked on Mo Zixin would surely work just as well on Mo Tao’s crush.

Mo Tao, for his part, was far more agreeable than Lu Xun. After hearing Qian Wei’s plan, he groveled and gushed with gratitude before rushing off to put it into practice.